New York (AFP)

From Moscow to Washington, the authorities tried to reassure the markets on Monday by saying that attacks on Saudi oil facilities would not lead to a shortage of black gold in the world but could not prevent a surge in prices.

The barrel of reference on the world market, the North Sea Brent quoted in London, bounded around 17H45 GMT of 15,2% to 69,37 dollars. It temporarily flew nearly 20% at the opening, the strongest movement during the session since 1991 and the Gulf War.

The barrel of WTI, the reference crude in New York, rose 14.9% to 63.06 dollars after taking up 15.5%.

This sudden increase is the direct result of two major attacks against the Abqaiq plant, the largest for the treatment of oil in the world, and the Khurais oil field. They led to a halving of Saudi production, amounting to 5.7 million barrels per day, or about 6% of global supply.

In addition to the brutal reduction in the world's supply of black gold, these attacks have aroused fears of a military escalation between Washington and Tehran.

- Stock Exchange -

In this tense context, the Saudi authorities are studying the possibility of postponing the long-awaited IPO of oil giant Aramco, told AFP Monday sources close to the case. The company, which has a stock market value of more than $ 1 trillion, has so far been planning to enter in November on its local market and in 2020 on an international stock exchange.

The US Minister of Energy, Rick Perry has tried to curb the surge in oil prices on Monday by highlighting the "substantial amount of oil available."

"Yes, there will be disruption for a while, yes, there will be an outbreak (prices), but not as devastating as it would have been five years ago," said the official. American interviewed from Vienna, by CNBC.

There is "plenty of oil!" Had already tweeted the day before the US President Donald Trump.

"For the moment, markets are well stocked with many commercial reserves," said Monday morning the International Energy Agency (IEA).

- Shock the shock -

Thanks to global reserves, "there is no need for urgent additional measures," said Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who was due to meet with his Saudi counterpart during the day.

The Saudi kingdom has already promised to mobilize its vast reserves to cushion the shock.

"According to data from JODI, Saudi Arabia has about 188 million barrels of oil in reserve, which at the rate of 5.7 million barrels per day covers about 33 days," calculate in a note Morgan analysts Stanley.

"In addition, Aramco had the capacity to increase oil production by about 2 million barrels a day before the attacks, and some could still be intact," they add.

However, say TD Securities analysts, "If there is enough capacity to compensate (disruptions) in the short term, it is key infrastructure that has been affected, suggesting that at least some of them could stay out of service for more than a month. "

The markets also manifested Monday with their bloodshed fear of escalating tensions in the region.

Yemeni rebels Houthis, backed by Tehran and facing a five-year military coalition led by Ryad, have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

But Saudi Arabia said Monday that the weapons used were made in Iran while US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had already accused Saturday of Iran to be behind the attack.

Tehran ruled the accusations "foolish" and "incomprehensible", Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in an attempt to justify "future action" against Iran .

© 2019 AFP